


Leave A Light On

by WhatsaBex



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: 5x06 kitchen scene, But MacRiley is happening, F/M, Mac is an idiot, Riley is hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:21:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28963071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatsaBex/pseuds/WhatsaBex
Summary: Oneshot for the kitchen scene, after Mac leaves Riley alone in the kitchen.
Relationships: Riley Davis & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 76





	Leave A Light On

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys, this one is very short, it was supposed to be longer because I wanted to write Mac's POV while he is out for a jog (the idiot..) but then the psidoe happened and I was too excited so here it is.
> 
> Take care guys and don't forget MacRiley is endgame! xx

**_Leave A Light On_ **

Riley Davis learned the hard way to always be prepared for the worst. Jack leaving was one of the most painful lessons that taught her to expect the fall when she was least ready for it. Especially when things were going just fine, she usually found herself on the floor. But never so literally when she watched Mac stand up and walk out on her for the second time now. She stayed on the cold kitchen floor and silently cursing herself for not being able to say something. And also for even trying to say something. As she listened to Mac leave the house, her mind wandered back to the day Angus MacGyver first walked away from her with the exact same look she saw now.

“Hey, Riles, dinner’s ready!” Mac’s voice came from the door while Riley was still on the phone,

“Yeah, thanks, Mitch, talk to you tomorrow,” she hung up the phone just as Mac walked in. He was wearing Bozer’s apron and he was smiling like a child in Disneyland. 

“Hey, you okay?” Sometimes Mac seemed to be reading her mind, but not lately. She tried everything to keep her cool and not let him see how much her feelings have shifted. She knew all too well how Mac was still figuring out him and Desi and she intended to move out before things got too complicated. Not like they weren’t messy enough just because she couldn’t keep her heart in check. 

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” she nodded, trying to put a smile on her face. Mac kept his gaze on her for a long 10 seconds before he let her lie slide.

“Okay, then. Dinner’s ready and I thought since Bozer is spending the weekend with his parents we could do that rematch you were avoiding,” he smirked. She laughed at him and followed him out of the room but deep down she was close to crying. When Mac looked at her like this; when it was just him and her; when them together seemed to be a possibility… It was heartbreaking to face reality and yet she had to smile for him. 

“Just so you know, I wasn’t avoiding anything. I just don’t want to see your sad face when I kick your ass again,” Riley said when they finally sat down at the table. Riley looked at the lasagna with suspicion. “Wait, if Bozer is at his parent’s how is the kitchen still in one place?”

“Very funny, Riles,” Mac gave her a fake hurt look but he was smiling so wild his dimples showed. “Bozer made it a couple of days ago and I got clear instructions how to put it into the oven today.”

They laughed but then for a while none of them said anything. It wasn’t the first night they were alone but now that Riley knew her days at this house were counting down… it gave her a feeling like it was good bye even though it wasn’t. She caught him looking at her but she kept her eyes down on the table, pretending to eat when her phone lit up and she got a text from Mitch saying:  _ Deal’s ready, got the keys. Congrats. _

“Is something wrong?” Mac asked immediately when he spotted the change of mood on Riley’s face. She looked up ready to say nothing. She felt she needed to sleep on the news, try to find the best way to tell him she was moving out. But she also knew this only made her sad, for Mac it could have meant an empty house where Desi and him could finally figure things out. So she decided to break the  _ good _ news. 

“No, not at all. Actually it’s good news,” she said and tried to smile while Mac looked at her curiously. “I just got the keys for my new apartment, I can get out of your hair now.”

She played it all light and funny but she could have sworn she saw sadness on Mac’s face. Maybe he just got so used to having her around and now he was a bit unsure how to go on. Before she could have started overthinking it, Mac stood up.

“Yeah, that’s great, Riley. Oh, I forgot something in the kitchen, will be right back,” and he ran back in the house, leaving Riley alone with her thoughts looking at the sky. She loved having dinner outside but tonight it seemed too big, too dark and the stars weren’t shining so brightly as most nights. “Hey, I gotta run out because I forgot to fill up the fridge for tomorrow.” She heard his voice come from inside then soon the closing of the door followed.

And then the pandemic happened and she couldn’t go anywhere. It felt like a very mean joke from life, to tell the truth. She was ready to go, give Mac the space to fix things with Desi, and give her the chance to move on with her feelings. But being in quarantine with him only did the opposite: it made her heart soften with every small thing Mac did: like his terrible habit of forgetting everything everywhere and then shooting her an apologetic look with his puppy eyes, running out of the room mid-sentence because he had an idea and then coming back with trash in his hands but excitement all over his face. But the worst moments were the ones when they sat next to each other on the couch, or they were joking around in the kitchen side by side, and the late night talks outside on the decks… These moments were so sweet and happy, she sometimes let herself believe it was true: they could be like this for the rest of their lives. And then when reality hit, she saw his phone light up with Desi’s name on the screen, or when the topics turned to her and she felt the change of mood in the air, it always felt like she drove her car right into a wall and forgot to use her seatbelts.

Riley took a deep breath and tried to steady her thoughts. Leaving was the right thing to do and yet it felt harder than anything she ever did before. But now it was too late to change her mind. She was partly hoping he would stop her, tell her he felt the same way but partly dreaded the moment when the door closed behind her and she was left alone with all the maybes in her head. Yet, whenever she attempted to tell Mac about why she was going, why she couldn’t stay, about her feelings something always happened: the words were stuck in her throat and she tried to tell him with her eyes but tonight was the only moment she felt he might have understood her. And then he left. With a broken smile on her face she got up from the floor, finished washing up the dishes, half-heartedly hoping he would come home. But when he didn’t and she had no more excuses to stay up any longer she motioned to her room. Before she could have returned to the safety of her four walls where no one saw her tears racing down on her face, she stepped out on the porch, turning on the lights. Even when Angus MacGyver didn’t know, Riley Davis was the one always leaving a light on for him to guide him home. 


End file.
